I have just a read book about rubber duckies - and loved it

Can you remember what you were doing on 10th January 1992?  I was in Tasmania celebrating my birthday.  I can't remember if I was still travelling around at that stage being the tourist  or whether I was by then ensconced in a very nice B&B in Hobart, attending an amazing music education conference.  Obviously the birthday celebration wasn't a high point of the day.  But I was definitely in Tasmania.
 
It turns out that on that very day a sea container fell off the back of a ship during high seas in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Evidently not an unusual event.  Apparently between 2000 and 10 000 containers fall off their ships into the ocean every year.  That particular container held 28,800 bath toys - beavers, frogs, turtles and duckies - 7,200 of each. The sea container burst open, the boxes of bath toys tumbled out and the cardboard packaging deteriorated, liberating all of those toys that had been designed to float.  Evidently ocean currents follow reasonably steady and predictable courses and there are certain points on the globe, little bays here and there, that act somewhat like terminus points - or rather gathering points - for tons and tons of rubbish/flotsam picked up along the way. And so a year or two later, these bath toys started showing up, some in odd places, but others en masse at these bays-cum-accidental rubbish tips.

Donovan Hohn, a high school english teacher from Manhattan with just a touch of Indiana Jones in his makeup, first heard about these bath toys bobbing in the seas and floating across the oceans of the world as he read about it in a student's essay.  He was charmed and thus began an adventure, over a series of five chases, that saw him follow the path of the rubber ducks from production in a chinese toy factory through the journey on a container ship to what should have been their proper destination.  He didn't do it all in order, but over the course of a number of years, he covered the route the ducks should have taken from the chinese toy factory to its US port and the route that at least some of the ducks took when they jumped ship to their final destination at one of the so called Garbage Patches, far from any US port.

Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea is his story.  And what a story it is.  Along the way I learned about...

oceans and oceanography,
the difference between environmentalism and conservation,
how some of the things we do in the name of environmentalism are in fact of no help at all, and can sometimes even be counterproductive,
environmentalism being a hugely complex issue,
the shipping industry and all sorts of conditions at sea and all sorts of conditions on all sorts of ships and boats at sea,
lots of ways to be horribly cold, uncomfortable and sick at sea,
toys, childhood and being a parent,

...and about our very sad, destructive addiction to plastic.

The very features that make plastic a perfect material for bathtub toys - so buoyant! so pliant! so smooth! so colourful! so hygienic! - also make it a superlative pollutant of the seas.  No one knows exactly how long a synthetic polymer will persist at sea.  Five hundred years is a reasonable guess.  Globally, we are currently producing 300 million tons of plastic every year, and no known organism can digest a single molecule, through plenty of organisms try.  (Last paragraph of the fourth chase.p. 190  )

By now, if you are even still reading, you are probably wondering how I came upon this book and why I read it.  The thing is, I heard Donovan Hohn interviewed on the radio and he was engaging, articulate and entertaining.  A natural and brilliant story teller.  He would surely be able to write well.  And he was, after all, an english teacher. 

Well, write he can.  You may have absolutely no interest in any of these subjects.   I didn't.  Which is to my shame.  But Donovan Hohn has managed to turn that crazy mixture of subject matter, along with the whimsical idea of a rubber duck lost at sea, into an absolute page turner.  He writes beautifully and has an extraordinary command of the english language.  Moreover he is a teacher through and through.  He will throw out a bit of jargon, a scientific concept, something the average person knows nothing about and you think, "Mmmm...don't know what he's talking about there."  And he knows you don't know.  So just around the next corner (be it a paragraph, page or section) you find yourself in the middle of the explanation. 

This book is worth reading for three reasons. 
Firstly, for the beauty of the writing and the joy of the story.
Secondly, to educate.  At so many levels.  About interesting stuff.  But also about important stuff.
And thirdly, to find out if he made it back in time from one of his chases to be present at the birth of his first child (he knew, when he set off, that it would be tight) and if, in the course of his chases, he  found for himself one of 28, 800 bath toys, having so carefully traced their route. 

A great book. 

Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond

On page 153 of his book Suffering Well, Paul Grimmond says this:

About ten years ago I was involved in a pastor's training conference.  In one session, as we talked about discipling young believers, we tried to come up with a list of key biblical truths we would want to teach every new Christian.  People gave the usual responses (and that's not a bad thing!): we wanted to teach new Christians the importance of Jesus' death in our place; we wanted them to know about the Holy Spirit's work; we wanted them to understand sin; we wanted to teach them about the church.  But then a woman who had been a missionary in Argentina for many years added her voice to the conversation.   I will never forget her contribution: "We need to teach them to suffer."

So true.  First world people are increasingly appalled and outraged by suffering.  When something goes terribly wrong we almost can't believe it.  "This shouldn't happen in this day and age."  And then we look for someone to blame and after that we look for someone else to make sure it never happens again.  What a burden we place on individuals and groups within society, insisting that they render our existence free of suffering.

But the thing is, it will happen again.  Wars will continue to be waged.  There will be more natural disasters.  People will die, sometimes in tragic circumstances.  Things will break.  The power will go off.  We will be caught in more traffic jams and have to wait in more queues.  Until Jesus comes again, suffering will continue. 

So what are we to do?  One thing we can do is grab ourselves a copy of Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond and learn how to suffer well.  In his book Paul Grimmond walks the reader through...

*  how it is that we came to believe that it's our right NOT to suffer - and then blows that myth (because it is a myth) right out of the water.

* lots of examples - corporate and individual - of suffering in the Old and New Testaments, giving a thorough survey of what the Bible has to say on this subject of suffering.

*  the main ways in which we suffer...
- because we live in a fallen world.
- because we follow Christ and so can expect to be persecuted.
- because God disciplines us.
- because we sorrow at seeing the world through God's eyes as we watch people wallow in their sin, long for the salvation of others and see Christians live sinfully and rebelliously.

*  ways to learn how to suffer well by...
- praising God with integrity, because He is good.
- doing good, by God's grace.
- not thinking that suffering well means being stoic.
- waiting patiently for His justice and His time.

*  ways to prepare for suffering by...
- reading all of the Bible and moreover, reading it in the way God intended.
- living out what we learn in the Bible.

All of this unfolds across a strong foundation of God's sovereignty.  God is completely in control.  Our suffering and the situations that give rise to our suffering do not take God by surprise and His purposes are always good and right.  If for no other reason, read this book to be thoroughly convinced that suffering is under God's good and loving control.

The bad news is that there is no "suffering well" quick fix.  This is a life's work.  But the good new is that it IS possible to suffer well - to suffer in ways that encourage others to see God at work and that bring glory and honour to God.

Suffering Well has been published as a part of a series called "Guidebooks for Life."  It isn't a book to be read in the midst of suffering - although for one well thought out on this subject, its words would certainly been affirming and encouraging.  This is a book to be read in the good and ordinary times.  At a time when there is opportunity to think over the ideas, read the Bible passages and pray in the guidance provided in order to prepare for the time when suffering comes upon us.  And times of suffering will come.  How good to be prepared for these times so that even in our trials we can seek to bring to God all glory and honour.  We need to learn how to suffer.  How to suffer well.

This is a great book.

You can get yourself a copy of Suffering Well from Matthias Media.  Available in paperback or as an eBook.

Suffering Well and hope

While the world tells us that human beings are just another part of the food chain, God tells us that humanity is the centrepiece of his plan.  By God's grace, we are precious to him.  And throughout human history, God has worked towards the glorious future he has planned for us in spite of the sin that characterises us.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they were expelled from the garden but not destroyed.  When the world was wicked in the days of Noah, God chose to rescue humanity through Noah and his family.  In the face of the tower of Babel, God promised Abraham that through his descendants, every nation would be blessed.  And in spite of the repeated, unrepentant rebellion of Israel that caused them to be cast out of the Promised Land, God continued to promise a future to Israel and, through Israel, a future for the whole world.

From Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond, page144.

Aging and Sanctification

I found this very short talk (it's about four minutes so it really is short) from John Piper about aging and sanctification interesting and helpful. 

At one point he explained that getting older doesn't equal sanctification.  Certain desires - he listed lust and greed for money but you could add all sorts of other things like grabbing for power, covetousness and so on - will likely lessen as a result of aging, sometimes for physiological reasons and sometimes because these things simply become redundant after a certain point in your life.  But just because these desires lessen or even disappear, that doesn't make you holier.  It is a deep seated, growing relationship with Jesus that makes you holy.  So it is important not to be fooled into thinking that you are growing in holiness if the aging process is bringing some of these urges under control.  They would be the hallmarks of growing in holiness but they don't represent holiness in and of themselves.  It seems so obvious as I write it down - but it's good to have teased out the distinction, none the less.

The benefit of aging, he said, is that "your resevoir of past grace is growing."  Lovely.  Your relationship with Jesus is all the more sure and strong because you can look back on an ever increasing collection of moments when you have seen God clearly at work in your life.  That is very steadying.

The unexpected surprise, he said, was that at age 30 he thought that in thirty years time he would be thirty years more kind and thirty years more patient.  But certain sins have remained and that this isn't necessarily the case.   Good to be mindful of this.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 
1 Thessalonians 5:23,24

Suffering Well and Job

The point of the book of Job is not to explain the reason for every episode of suffering in the lives of innocent people.  It is to remind us that God has reasons beyond our reasons, and to call us to humbly rely on him.  Job suffered deeply.  But God taught him that he didn’t need all of his questions answered; he just needed to know the living God.  

From Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond, page38.

Teaching kids about God - timed challenges

Teaching kids about God

Teaching kids about God photo by Cathy.  Thanks Cathy!!

Another thing I do to keep Scripture classes at school (30 minute lessons) and Sunday school classes (40 to 60 minutes) humming along is to use timed challenges throughout each lesson.  I have a chart where I record everyone's best times and it is highly competitive.

Here's THE WHAT...and then I will explain the HOW and the WHY.

The Shape Sorter

Pull out this old toy from the toddler toy box.  Time how long it takes to put the shapes in - surprisingly hard when you are under pressure.  But for those with a cool head and the right strategy, it is possible to do it in 14 seconds!

Apple Stacking

Bring a bag of apples - you won't need any more than eight apples from my experience - and see how many you can stack in a set amount of time.  I did this last term and gave the kids 27 seconds (because there are 27 books in the New Testament...and they all know that fact now) so that it wouldn't drag out for too long.  Record - five.

Cup Stacking

You need ten plastic cups.  The idea is to time how long it takes to stack them up - four at the bottom, then three, then two, then one - then put your hands on your head and then unstack them back into a pile of cups and yell "FINISHED!"  It's pretty quick so the yelling at the end helps for time keeping.  And kids think it is fun to yell in class.  If you google CUP STACKING you will see some pretty amazing examples of this challenge.  Mine is a very simplified version but they love it. 

The Buzzer

A friend found this one for me.  You have to ease the hand piece around the wire without letting the circle of the hand piece touch the wire.  Some of these gadgets buzz or beep if the circle makes contact with the wire.  This particular one laughs at you hysterically.   Time how long it takes to get from end to the other - and you are disqualified if it laughs at you.  Most don't get a time.  The laughing seems to diffuse the frustration and disappointment.

Block Jigsaw

This doesn't work in a classroom because it is too small to be seen from the back.  All classroom competitions need to be visible by all or else they fail monumentally.  Take it from me.  I know.  But this is great to use with a smaller group.  They get to find and assemble the animal (with or without a guide picture, depending on how tricky you want to make it) and you time how long it takes.  I have two sets of these so sometimes I bring out both sets and run this challenge as a race rather than individually timing them - with evenly matched children and only with robust kids who can cope with the fact that one will win and one will lose.

THE HOW

1.  I run one of these challenges in Scripture classes every week across a whole term - with a new challenge each term.  Every child who wants to participate is timed.  This takes a few weeks and their time is recorded on a chart.  When everyone has had a go I choose some to have  a second go to beat the class or their own personal record.  Sometimes I choose children at random to have a go, sometimes a child who needs a boost and sometimes I choose someone as a reward for good class participation.  At least one child will have a go of the current challenge at every lesson, week in and week out. 

2.  In Sunday School I run a challenge for a month at a time.  Every week the kids can have a go to beat their own score or break the group's record.  I run a monthly challenge two or three times a year - injecting one when things are getting a bit flat and need some pepping up.

3.  Rather than running a challenge over a long period of time, these can be used as a one off - the one who gets the best time gets a prize.  Or run along the lines of "a minute to win it" - if they do the challenge in a minute...or whatever time you set...they win the prize.  Or run it as a "minute to win it" across the whole term if you have a good supply of prizes - that probably works better with younger children.

4.  Respect the child who doesn't want to have a go.  For a quiet few, they won't want to be exposed at the front of the group like this.  And that is OK.

THE WHY

These challenges have absolutely nothing to do with teaching kids about God.  But here are ten quick reasons why I use them.

1.  They are quick - they don't rob too much time from a lesson.
2.  They inject some fun into the lesson. 
3.  Because they are fun it helps in building good relationships.
4.  And it sets a good dynamic in the room
5.  So the kids look forward to your lesson with them.
6.  And that means you are well underway to winning the battle with discipline.
7.  Which means more time to teach.
8.  And more opportunity to be kind, to show love and to demonstrate warmth.
9.  If done ever single week then it becomes a constant.  It's a bit like when you hear the dulcet tones of the West Wing theme music (or insert your own favourite TV series) at the beginning of each episode and it excites and prepares your mind for what is coming next.  Think Pavlov's dog.
10.  That then helps the kids to transition quickly into your lesson - which means less wasted time.  It is five or ten minutes time well spent - which means twenty or more good teaching minutes in a thirty minute class.

Please know that not every lesson works perfectly for me.  Far from it.  My last lesson today would testify to that.  But I have had a much better strike rate, particularly with school Scripture, since I started doing this.

Reading the Bible in chronological order - discovery # 1

I don't know that I have ever really thought too hard about where the book of Job fits into the scheme of biblical things. I usually just get to Job, take a breath and dive in. It's there in the midst of the wisdom literature with a timeless message and it just IS. But when was Job knocking about the place?

Well, I was not three days into the chronological read through of the Bible, eleven chapters of Genesis under my belt, and there I was being redirected to Job, just before Abraham enters stage left at chapter twelve. Interesting.

Turns out there are at least a couple of theories as to the dating of Job. The theory that places him around the time of Abraham rests particularly on the fact that in chapter one, amidst Job's calamities, his camels were carried off by a raiding party from the Chaldeans (Job 1:17). Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldeans. And the area of Chaldea later became known as Babylonia - important around the time of the exile. So the suggestion is that Job was around the time when Chaldea was Chaldea, not Babylon.

Another theory has Job around the time of the exile. He is mentioned in Ezekiel 14:12-14.

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men - Noah, Daniel and Job - were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness," declares the Sovereign Lord.

Curious that Job is mentioned last in that list – and so the question is, does the order have any significance? And it has been said that whoever wrote Job shows a great knowledge of distant lands and is therefore unlikely to have been around any time before Solomon.

The bottom line is that we don't really know. There are a few clues - and they are just too few. But the folk who constructed the reading plan I am using had to put him somewhere, so on this occasion they opted for the association with Abraham rather than Ezekiel. And I'm glad they did because it made me sit up, pay attention and read Job with fresh eyes. 

Dispelling a rumour and crossing over to the dark side

There is a bit of a rumour going around that I'm a tea snob.  It's been circulating for years.  And I may or may not have contributed to it with...

...the oft regaled tales of the tea making ritual in my family home - warm the pot AND the cups (certainly no teabags there), take the pot TO the kettle otherwise the water won't be at maximum boiling point, DON'T stir the tea while it is brewing, milk first and tea second...

...insisting in days of old when friends said, "Let's go out for a coffee," on saying, "Yes, let's go out for a cup of tea," until several just got used to saying, "Let's go out for a cup of tea" even though most of them would be drinking coffee...

...continuing to say, when friends drop over, "Would you like a cup of tea?" and then remembering to offer coffee a bit further down the track. (I wonder how many people drink tea at our house purely out of politeness)...

...a year of putting funny little quotes about tea on Facebook as I worked my way through a quote-a-day-about-tea calendar a year or two ago...

But the truth is, I'm no tea snob.  It doesn't have to be teapot tea.  Teabag tea is fine.  OK.  Got that little one cleared up.  But there's more.

You see, I need to say that I recently crossed over to the dark side.  No, I haven't become a coffee drinker.   (Insert personal message here to my two dear tea drinking friends who have recently discovered coffee - I still love you, even if in one case I am still speechless!)

I crossed to an even darker place than that.

I now drink decaffeinated tea.  Decaffeinated. Teabag. Tea.

I used to wonder at the whole decaf thing.  If you are going to drink tea it may as well have the caffeine in it.  (And how do they decaffeinate it anyway??)  But I don't actually drink tea for the caffeine hit.  I drink tea to have a warm drink.  And alas, whereas once if I didn't fall asleep within three minutes of hitting the pillow I thought I had insomnia, in recent months sleep has been somewhat elusive.  So I decided to drink decaf tea during the evening to see if that made a difference.  And having got used to it, I find myself drinking it most of the time now when I'm at home. 

My sleep is good again.  The tea in its decaf rendering is fine.  And I'm not a tea snob.  Although I still prefer to drink it from a reasonably fine cup or mug.  Chunky cups just won't do.  That's all.

Best ever cheats' minestrone soup

It's a cheat because it only takes 30 minutes to make.  Best ever because it is the best ever.  I cook lots of this every winter.  Thought I should share it with you.

You will need:

Olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 or 2 teaspoons of crushed garlic
2 or 3 carrots, sliced
2 or 3 stalks of celery, sliced
1 red capsicum chopped
1/2 cauliflower, broken into small florets
700gm bottle of tomato passata
A big handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
250gm of dried pasta (shells or macaroni)
4 to 6 cups of chicken stock
440gm tin of drained red kidney beans
Salt and pepper
Fresh parmesan cheese

1.  Heat the oil in a pot and saute the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes until soft.
2.  Throw in the carrots, celery, capsicum and cauli and saute for a couple of minutes to start the cooking process.
3.  Add the passata (a big tin of crushed tomatoes works as well), stock, basil and pasta and simmer until the pasta and veg are tender - about fifteen minutes.
4.  Add the kidney beans in the last five minutes - just long enough to heat them up really.  Season with salt and pepper as needed - will depend upon the stock.
5.  Seve with parmesan cheese and a bit more fresh basil.  No one will ever know it only took half an hour.

How many serves?  I figure that each cup of stock, along with all the other good things, equates to one adult serving.  This recipe doubles easily if you need a larger volume of soup and have a big cooking pot.

If you need to say that this recipe isn't vegetarian (does chicken stock help it to cross that line?) then frying some bacon or salami with the onion and garlic works well, adds nice saltiness and will cover that base.

And it freezes well.

Mid year Bible reading reboot

If you need to reboot your Bible reading here are a few ideas.  If you use take this Bible reading plan (my old friend) you could...

1.  Start from 1st January (on 1st July - and it is OK to do this...really it is) and use this plan to get you through the lion's share of Old Testament history, all of the Psalms and all of the New Testament.
2.  Start from 1st July and use this plan to get you through the tail end of Old Testament history and all of the wisdom literature and prophets, the Psalms and the New Testament.

Options one and two have you reading three or four chapters a day.

3.  Use either half (January to June or July to December) to get through one part of the Bible if working in three sections is too difficult.  Maybe Psalms or New Testament.
4.  Go here for other reading plans to start from the beginning or from the middle.

Having finished my tour of the prophets for now, I have decided to embark upon a slightly ambitious project of doing a read through of the Bible in chronological order.  Ambitious because I am going to try to get through it in six months which means double readings each day.  Ambitious because the second half of the year contains those particularly busy months of November and December.  And if I don't make it then that will be OK.  But I'm going to try. 

HEALTH WARNING:  If you are new to Bible reading or in a floundering patch, don't be overwhelmed by my overambitiousness.  Anyone who has read this blog for more than three minutes will know that I think reading the Bible is pretty important and pretty wonderful but I have floundered too.  Pick what works.  But pick something because it is a valuable and wonderful use of your time.

And if you don't need to reboot, then as you were.  Press on.  What are you reading at the moment and how do you plan your reading?

18 Words

When I first started reading 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know by JI Packer, you might remember that I came across this quote at the beginning of the introduction...

Keys open doors; keywords open minds, and through minds hearts. This book takes keywords from the Bible - terms, we may truly say, from God's own vocabulary - and spells out in a particular way some of the main thoughts linked with them. The goal is understanding, faith and wisdom.

18 Words covers some pretty lofty topics...

Revelation

Scripture

The Lord

The World

Sin

The Devil

Grace

The Mediator

Reconciliation

Faith

Justification

Regeneration

Election

Holiness and Sanctification

Mortification

Fellowship

Death

This list screams the word DOCTRINE (or THEOLOGY).  Until recent times I would have run a mile from a book like this.  I'm a practical person - I like the concrete rather than the conceptual.  The closest I have ever come to having a nervous breakdown was when I was preparing to sit the exam for the doctrine unit in the Moore College correspondence course.  So why would I or you or anyone read a book like this?

--------------------------------------------------

1.  It is written in the same lovely style as Knowing God.  JI Packer writes so very well - clearly, cleanly and with an amazing economy of words.  But it certainly isn't stuffy or academic.  There are plenty of delightful moments like this one at the beginning of the chapter on holiness and sanctification...

The two English nouns in our title represent a single word-group in both Hebrew and Greek.  In English, we have no adjective from the verb 'sanctify', nor any verb from the adjective 'holy.' This, perhaps is not a very great tragedy; if the words 'sanct' and 'holify' existed, they would sound so ugly that nobody would want to use them...

2.  The chapters are short - an average of ten pages each, some shorter, some longer.  I always find short chapters a comfort when I am having to really concentrate.  Seems to make it more achievable.  And each chapter stands alone.

3.  These are important biblical themes.  And some of them are not easy to grasp.  But Packer provides a clear explanation with lots of examples and Bible references.  Granted they are summaries - Packer describes them as sketches - but they are a good start if you are grappling with (or want to grapple with) any of these topics.

4.  It isn't theology for theology's sake.  Packer is wonderfully pastoral.  This is a book of knowledge.  But it is abundantly clear that he doesn't want this knowledge to stick around in our heads only.  Chapter by chapter, he wants the knowledge to drop into our hearts and hands.  You can tell this just by reading the dedication...

 

For

Ruth, Naomi and Martin

with their father's prayers

that they will make their own

all that I have written here.

 

This is a book of applied theology.

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I enjoyed each of the chapters.  The one on "the mediator" was very interesting.  That chapter opens with these words...

The mediator is a familiar figure in modern industrial and international negotiations.  The pattern of events that calls for his services is increasingly common.  Things get tense; both sides feel there is no common ground for continuing the discussion; then one walks out - and at once a mediator has to be found to go to and fro between the estranged negotiators trying to bring them together again.  The mediator is thus...the man inthe middle.  He has links with both sides; he sympathises with both, and both trust him.  He serves the cause of justice, peace and goodwill.  His job is to represent each side to the other and find a basis for restoring their friendship.

The mediator Packer talks about is Jesus.  I know in my head that Jesus is our mediator but I don't think I'd thought about this in such stark terms before.  So that was interesting. 

The chapter on election was brilliant - a fairly long and measured introduction cutting through all the fear, arguments and misconceptions that abound around this topic, followed by the clearest and most uplifting, humbling explanation of election that I have ever read.  Packer tackled the chapter on the devil quite differently - straight in with both gloves on.  His writing was direct and frank.

This is a great book.  I am planning on reading it a few times - once a year for a few years to come (and you can check my reading list as the years unfold to see if I do and hold me accountable to this) - until some of these trickier subjects sit clearly and comfortably with me...and I don't feel like I have to run away from all things theological and scary!

Says JI Packer at the end of his introduction to 18 Words...

I hope that the following sketches of biblical themes (they are no more) will subserve the Spirit's double purpose of constantly leading us to love and adore the Christ of the Scriptures, and to amend our lives by their light. 

I think he achieves his aims.  This is a really good book.

Packed up and ready to go

How many Christians live their lives packed up and ready to go?  There is no mystery about it; common sense should tell us.  Be wholly committed to Christ's service  every day.  Don't touch sin with a barge-pole.  Keep short accounts with God.  Think of each hour as God's gift to you, to make the most and best of.  Plan your life, budgeting for seventy years (Ps. 90:10), and understanding that if your time proves shorter that will not be unfair deprivation but rapid promotion.  Never let the good, or the not-so-good, crowd out the best, and cheerfully forgo what is not the best for the sake of what is.  Live in the present; gratefully enjoy its pleasures and work through its pains with God, knowing that both the pleasures and the pains are steps on the journey home.  Open all your life to the Lord Jesus and spend time consciously in His company, basking in and responding to His love.  Say to yourself often that every day is one day nearer.  Remember that, as George Whitefield said, man is immortal till his work is done (though God alone defines the work), and get on with what you know to be God's task for you here and now. 

Said Paul: 'The time has come for me to be gone.  I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kep the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me, but all those who have longed for his Appearing.' (2 Timothy 4:6-8, JB)

Urged Peter: ' For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love...make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' (2 Peter 1:5-7, 10-11, NIV)

That's the way.

The very last page of 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know from the chapter called "Death" by my new friend JI Packer.  So very encouraging. 

The world according to God

In his chapter on "The World" in 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know, JI Packer considers the different ways we might regard the world - physical, geographical, racial, anthropological, sociological, cultural...and even personal (think "welcome to my world.")  And then there is the biblical view. 

The biblical idea of the world covers approximately the same area of meaning as our secular notions does.  It likewise denotes this earth with its cosmic environment, and men upon it, or sometimes mankind alone.  There are words both in Hebrew and Greek translated "world" in the English Bible, which mean simply "the habitable (or inhabited) earth."  Yet the standpoint from which the Bible speaks of "the world" is quite different from ours.  For in the Bible "world" is a theological word - a word, that is , which is defined in terms of God.  "The world" is always, and emphatically God's world - the order of things which He made, which He owns, and which He rules, despite all His creatures' efforts to cast off His sway.  The reference-point of the biblical idea of the word therefore, is not man, but God.  What we have to do now is to learn to think of the world God-centredly, as the Bible presents it - not always as it appears to human inspection, but as God sees it, and thinks of it.  For the thoughts of God about it are the measure of what it really is.

From 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know  by JI Packer chapter four, page 55-56.

A helpful reminder that the world doesn't revolve around us.